The chart illustrates the number of shops which closed and newly opened shops from 2011 to 2018.
Overall, the rate for openings saw a downward trend from 2011 to 2018 in spite of the fluctuations. The same could be said for closures.
With regards to shops opening, the rate initially stood at 8500 in 2011 and it experienced a dramatic decline to 4000 a year later. The 2012-to-2014 period witnessed a rise to over 6000 in 2014. Then, the figure dropped to 4000 in 2015 and remained unchanged until 2017. There was a slight increase in the number of openings in 2017 with 4100, and it ended at 3000 in 2018.
Regarding closures of shops, the rate fluctuated around 6500 from 2011 to 2014. In 2015, a tremendous decline was observed in the number of closures from 6500 in 2014 to almost 1000. However, the figure registered around 5000 in the next 2 years. The number of closures was recorded at 5100 in 2018.
